The Cleave Ascendant Build Guide (PoE Synthesis 3.6.)

Introduction

With the death of stat-sticks in Patch 3.5, people are forced to play “true” dual-wielding builds. Cleave is one of the best skills for this purpose. Attacking with two fast Swords allows us to build around critical strikes. Swords are chosen because they are arguably the best one-handed weapon when it comes to critical strike-based builds. Claws and Daggers are also good but you have to travel so much on the passive skill tree that it is not worth it. Ascendant’s over leech from Slayer and the additional toughness and damage from Juggernaut make a great combination. This is one of the builds that does not require specific items and can be played as a league starter.

Build Summary

The great thing about Cleave is that you can use it since level 1. Combining the damage from two rare one-handed weapons will carry you through the content, as long as you replace weapons every 5-10 levels. The threshold jewel is a reward from The Act V quest, has a limit of 2, and is very useful. It basically provides free Fortify effect and increases the area of effect by a considerable amount. When it comes to mapping, two Scaeva, Ahn's Might, Dreadbeak, or any rare Swords with at least 300 pDPS will carry you until red maps with ease.

Pros & Cons

Pros

+ Hardcore viable
+ Great clear speed
+ Can be played on a budget
+ Amazing endgame scaling with gear
+ Cleave also has very respectable single target damage
+ Great survivability via over leech mechanic and great life pool

Cons

- Dies to elemental reflect
- Melee builds might not appeal to some

Playstyle

Offensively, keeping up Blood Rage is important. Moving around with Whirling Blades and one-shotting packs of monsters with single Cleave multistrike is what the offensive playstyle is all about. Big chucks of cold criticals, due to the fact you are using Hatred, will shatter and freeze enemies. Keeping Summon Ice Golem alive is nice for the additional accuracy and critical chance.

Defensively, the over leech mechanic remains unchanged. Due to how powerful it can be defensively, we focus on building a huge life pool while also having enough damage to instantly leech it. The additional endurance charge generation from Juggernaut will give us 2-3 seconds of physical damage immunity via the Cast when Damage Taken Support and Immortal Call gem setup.

For Playstyle, entering a new zone you have to keep in mind that you cannot regenerate life. Hit few monsters in order to store some over leech before you activate Blood Rage. Once you’ve got you leech up, you are ready to go aggressive, single multistrike of should be enough to kill a pack of monsters. For additional single target damage you should drop down your charged Dread Banner and an Ancestral Warchief totem. You should use Whirling Blades all the time, due to your high attack speed this is more efficient than running around for mobility.

Ascendancy, Passive Tree, Bandits, and Pantheons

Ascendancy (Scion – Ascendant)

Passive point

Slayer Ascendancy

Juggernaut Ascendancy

Path of the Marauder

Heading to Duelist is the first thing we have to do. Keep in mind that all you get is a passive skill point so you can skip normal labyrinth early on and do it right before you are ready for the cruel difficulty. Ascending into Slayer allows us to start benefiting from the over leech mechanics. It also makes us immune to physical reflect and gives some area of effect. The Juggernaut provides stun and chill immunity, along with the Endurance Charge generation. The 1000 Accuracy Rating makes the transition to critical strikes very easy. Path of the Marauder allows us to start from the Marauder’s starting point on the passive skill tree which saves us some passive points.

Passive tree

Pick all the sword/one-handed/dual-wielding nodes before you start transitioning to critical strikes. Having around 4k life is what you should aim for by the end of Act 10 (level 68+). If you do not have that amount of life simply pick up some more life nodes on the passive skill tree.

Minor:Ralakesh makes you immune to blind and maim when upgraded; in general this is the best minor god choice.

Gems

The build’s main skill is Cleave. For mobility Whirling Blades is the ideal choice, due to the build’s fast attack speed. Blood Rage is used for the additional attack speed and leech it provides, along with the very handy Frenzy charge generation mechanic. Both Hatred and Herald of Purity should be active at all times for the great amount of damage they provide. Dread Banner allows you to utilize the Impale mechanic for additional damage. Immortal Call is used to prevent death from consecutive physical-based hits.

For all the gem links we provide below, keep in mind that we list the gems in order of priority (starting from the top left, going to the right on each row of the links), meaning that if you lack the required number of sockets to fit all the gems, the first ones to drop are the ones at the bottom (with the bottom right being the last). Also note that in-game, as long as the sockets are linked, it makes no difference at all what order the gems are placed in.

Cleave (6-Link)

Cleave is the build’s signature ability. We recommend two different 6-Links for this, depending on whether you are interested in clearing or single target.

Hatred and Herald of Purity

Hatred is an aura that grants percent of physical damage as extra cold damage. Herald of Purity is used for the additional flat amount of physical damage it adds to attacks. Both gems should not be linked with any support gems.

Blood Rage

Blood Rage adds great offensive benefits to most attack builds. The downside of the gem is the physical degeneration effect, which is easily countered by the over leech mechanic, which you have by ascending into Slayer.

Dread Banner

This banner should be active while clearing easy packs of monsters. Drop Dread Banner on the ground for the increased beneficial effects when fighting tougher foes, then press the banner button to pick it up and have it active again. This banner should not be linked with any support gems.

Gearing

Capping your elemental resistances is essential and it should always be your top priority in any build; it should be the first thing you do when gearing up a character. Obtaining a 6-link, while very powerful and certainly recommended, can potentially be very expensive (requiring an average of 1500 Orbs of Fusing, obviously depending on your luck); as such, this should not really be a goal for you while gearing up, and you should instead settle for a 5-link until you have enough resources. For survivability you should have gear with more life in general, along with levels in order to scale your life-pool through the life nodes on the passive skill tree. You should be able to reach 7,5k+ life when properly geared around level 90.

Helmet

Abyssus provides an insane amount of damage but makes you very squishy. Other unique helmets are not really worth considering. Best helmet choice overall is a well rolled high armour-base. Any Cleave helmet enchant is useful, but the attack speed is best of all. The Rare Affix priority is:

Elemental resistances (until capped)

Maximum life (at least 80)

% Increased Maximum life (Pristine Fossil)

Intelligence

Armour

Body armour

Loreweave and Belly of the Beast are both great choices. An Elder chest piece with additional critical strike chance and life is also a very good option. The Rare Affix priority is:

Elemental resistances (until capped)

Maximum life (at least 100)

% Increased Maximum life (Elder mod, Pristine Fossil)

Attacks have #% to critical strike chance (Elder mod, can only roll on Elder-based body armours)

Socketed Gems are supported by Level 1 Maim (Serrated Fossil)

Gloves

Tombfist work well for the build, Haemophilia can be used for clear speed improvement. If you are struggling with your critical chance, Oskarm is a great choice. Very good rare Gripped Gloves should be the best in slot when it comes to this gear slot. The Rare Affix priority is:

Elemental resistances (until capped)

Maximum life (at least 60)

% Increased Attack speed

Flat physical damage

Accuracy (at least 200-250)

Boots

Kaom's Roots is best in slot. Try to enchant them with 16% attack speed if you have killed recently. Prior to these, use rare boots with life and resists. The Rare Affix priority is:

Elemental resistances (until capped)

Maximum life (at least 80)

Belt

Rare belt is best in slot for the build, look for Stygian Vise if possible. The Rare Affix priority is:

Elemental resistances (until capped)

Maximum life (at least 80)

Elemental damage with attacks (at least 25%)

Flask duration

Reduced charges used

Amulet

Carnage Heart is a decent choice while you are progressing with gear. It gets outclassed by a well rolled rare amulet. The Rare Affix priority is:

Elemental resistances (until capped)

Maximum life (at least 60)

Flat physical damage

Elemental damage with attacks (at least 25%)

Increased critical strike multiplier

Increased critical strike chance

Accuracy (at least 250)

Rings

Resists should not be a problem, this is why the best choice is Steel Rings. The Rare Affix priority is:

Flasks

Instant or half instant Life flask is mandatory for the build. Diamond flask is also mandatory in order to improve critical chance substantially. Atziri's Promise , Lion's Roar and Taste of Hate are all great choices both in offensive and defensive aspects. Basalt flask or any other utility flask is a good choice.

Note: Make sure to have bleed and freeze immunity on your non-unique flasks.

Jewels

Overwhelming Odds x2 is mandatory for the build. You will get one from Act V while leveling, so you just have to buy another one for 1 Chaos Orb. Make sure to place them in jewel slots where they have at least 40 in radius. This strength does not have to be allocated!

In other jewel slots it is recommended to have abyssal jewels with chance to gain Onslaught and Unholy Might on kill. Regular rare jewels are also very beneficial for the build. Watcher's Eye with Hatred mods will substantially increase damage but will cost multiple exalts.

Regular Jewel Affix Priority

% Increased Maximum life

Attack speed

Physical damage with swords/ while dual wielding

Area damage

Critical multiplier

Abyssal Jewel Affix Priority

Maximum life (at least 35)

Onslaught on kill (at least 4%)

Unholy Might on kill

Attack speed

Leveling

As a reminder, we have several guides to help you level up a character.

Leveling as Cleave is easy. Keep in mind that the gem gains radius with gem levels, so in the beginning the area of effect will be much smaller compared to the endgame. You can always level with some other skill and switch to Cleave later on if you want to.

Leveling Trees

Early on, focus on having around 300 life per Act. For example, if you are in Act 6, you should have approximately 1800 life. If you have enough life, simply pick up some more damage nodes nearby.

Useful leveling unique items

As you begin a new character there are few unique items that can boost your power exponentially. Tabula Rasa allows you to have a 6-Linked skill as early as you get the gems. Wanderlust gives a decent movement speed, which will make your leveling that much more efficient. Goldrim provides a lot of elemental resistances, this will let you worry less about gearing when approaching certain Act encounters. Redbeak and The Screaming Eagle provide great amount of damage which can easily carry you up to Act IV.

Gem Progression

Using Tabula Rasa will allow you to have 6-Link gem setups early on, which is why we show such examples below. If you cannot get Tabula Rasa (or another item with a 6-Link), then simply prioritize the first gems in each link provided below.

In order to acquire gems that are not available to your class as a quest reward, simply ask a friend to buy them off vendors for you, or buy them yourself from Sioasa in The Library in Act III Library.

At level 38, your Cleave link should look like this. Keep in mind this is a leveling gem setup that is meant to give most damage while leveling and should be replaced by the superior endgame gem setup mentioned in the Gem section above.

FAQ

The build has no life regeneration, what do I do when I try to run Labyrinths?

When running Labyrinths you can simply on an Orb of Regret and take out Vaal Pact. Once you are done with the Labyrinth you can put it back in.

How much Critical Chance is needed for a build to be relevant?

In every critical-based build anything above than 35% is considered enough. Remember that you also roll this chance twice with your Diamond Flask.

Conclusion

The Cleave Ascendant is a pretty straight forward build, easy to get into. If you have played any Blade Flurry or Reave Ascendant before, this is a pretty similar build, but definitely more powerful now. This is because of the changes made to stat-sticks. The Cleave Ascendant is overall very solid, durable and versatile build, that can start from scratch and farm its way up to absolute endgame. It also does not lack in any type of content.

Changelog

08
Mar 2019
Updated passive trees.

06
Mar 2019
Revisited and updated for Synthesis 3.6.

05
Feb 2019
Made the playstyle section more descriptive, and improved the gearing section by providing more detailed recommendations.

hey. this build looks fun, going to try it:) leveling as i speak, i had most of the items listed here in my stash, exept loreweave / belly, so i’ll use my tabula until i can afford any of those chest pieces:)

hey. this build looks fun, going to try it:) leveling as i speak, i had most of the items listed here in my stash, exept loreweave / belly, so i’ll use my tabula until i can afford any of those chest pieces:)